hilko

No link, as this is a scratch my own itch thing for now, but I'm working on a personal 'hub' web app that is part UX/UI experiment, and part a way to integrate various tools I've created over the years to ease various pain points in my life.

Some of this has to do with solving the problem of the deluge of information I consume, through psychological 'intervention' as well as some way to store all this stuff and make it easy to filter and find the useful bits.

Some of it is journalling-related, and vaguely in the Quantified Self area.

A significant portion is about finding ways to actually use this amazing, powerful computer that I have in my pocket for things that actually, quantifiably, provably improve my life (and hopefully, eventually, that of others). This is mostly in the direction of autism-related issues, anxiety, maintaining social connections, and so on. Applying the (relatively) well-supported lessons from psychology to the bafflingly advanced technology that is part of my daily life, and that of most people around me.

Mostly it's a vanity project though, that I can currently afford indulging in. I figure that after years of working and making money off building stuff I don't care about much, it's time to let my more creative side express itself in ways that might prove useful somehow. I'm not an painter, or a musician, or a poet, but I can code, I love to code (when it's on my own terms), and I'm still amazed that for less than five bucks I can have a server running that does whatever I want it to do, and as a 'full-stack developer', that's quite a lot!

Part of me wants to work on things that are more directly beneficial to others, but 1) I have enough 'runway' to do that too, eventually, and 2) I've grown weary of always trying to make sure that what I do is 'useful' by some measure that doesn't quite feel like it originates from within. Many of the best things I've done started out as scratches to personal itches, so perhaps it's okay to 'indulge' for now.

I'd argue very few people make their own path. While anecdotal, looking at those around me, most 'paths' people go down are a result of external forces that have been internalized over time.

Hell, even look at myself, very few of my choices were a result of just my own thinking, convictions, and/or discipline, and those that I do consider my own can partially be explained by my genetic makeup. But I don't want to reduce this argument too far.

My point is that the path we go down is mostly followed 'by default' and not a result of our own individual actions and choices. And I find that those who've had the most fortuitous defaults tend to ascribe them to their 'selves' more than others do. I think this is incorrect, and even if it's not, the more ethical position is to assume it is incorrect.

To my embarrassment, I didn't really know much about Doug Engelbart until Brett Victor brought him up in one of his excellent talks (Inventing on Principle). I quite like his eulogy: http://worrydream.com/Engelbart/

I'd say it's akin to me building a high-speed car that randomly stops braking, severely endangering whoever uses it. As long as it's just me and other high-speed car enthusiasts playing around with it, that's fine.

But if I package it up as a DIY package, ready for the real world, and lots of people start building/using my faulty car, I would consider it quite important to add a huge disclaimer.

Wow. It's quite possible to make more than 60K in Berlin (in Euro's) while paying around 400-500 for an apartment. Crazy how much difference there is between cities.

Interesting that depression is more common in rural areas. Do you have a link (or links) to studies that support this? I expected much the opposite.

And keyboard shortcuts!

I'm curious... at a rate of $29, do you only get HNers that work from outside Western Europe or the US? In Holland I gather the 'average' rate is 50 euro, and that's for 'simple' front-end work. RoR or Drupal work can net you more.

(Honestly curious)

I travel between Amsterdam and Berlin quite frequently and I've all but stopped flying. Yes, it's a bit faster, but it's much less comfortable.

Think that's it. I just looked at Yoleo Reader (https://yoleoreader.com/) and realized that the clean look of that is exactly what I want/need, and what I miss with NewsBlur.

I got a premium NewsBlur account primarily because it was the only non-google reader with good keyboard support. And I kind of like the attempt to add social and commenting features.

But I might move away if I can get a cleaner UI with full google reader-style keyboard support.

This problem could be solved with a 'minimal' skin, perhaps?

Same here. There's something 'off' about it, compared to google reader, that I can't put my finger on, but it's good enough for my needs.

It's not, and that's a good point. But it sounds more logical to me. Could you give some reasons why people with 'mental illness' would gravitate towards centers?

(mind, I'm asking this with the assumption that mental illness is much broader than just homeless schizophrenics, so to speak. I can definitely see why they might gravitate towards heavily populate areas. But they usually don't pay rent.)

You can live in a nice one-room apartment in Berlin for about 390 euro a month, 15 mins away from the hip boroughs by great public transport, and 10 mins by bike. What's the price like in Paris (honest question)?

Well, how much easier is it to 'connect' in other settings? Do you connect more significantly with colleagues? random people you meet at clubs, bars, or other types of social events?

I'd say the 'connection' problem is equally real outside of meetups, and more an issue of post-college life:

First, there is almost no institutional 'mingling' (outside of work anyways). Second, we stop having the massive amounts of free time that we used to have in school and/or college to goof around with others. And third, we have less energy and often more responsibilities in the bit of free time we have left.

Add to that perhaps a general increase in weariness, 'emotional scarring', and decrease in energy and decreased need for socializing (for some of us anyways), and the whole concept of 'connecting' with new people in a post-education, full-time work life (for you AND them) becomes a serious challenge...

I think the hacker problem is that we're too damn happy to solve a problem successfully, no matter if it is a problem of consequence or not.

Oh indeed </Omar>!

I've always straddled the line between both worlds. Obsessively programming as a kid/teenager, then studying communications and psychology, and now a web developer. And there is so much space, generally speaking, between the two worlds that any connection is a Very Good Thing.

Perhaps hackers tend to be a little more structured and in-crowd, or downright strangers to most of the world. I'm not sure. Or perhaps hackers can easily be distracted by any type of problem, no matter how trivial, no how much it benefits others over them, or no matter how insignificant it is. I think the latter is true very often.

The hackers I do know tend to be, generally speaking, wonderfully excited by problems presented to them, and have a childlike exuberance solving them. They are 'moral' individuals, but often seem to be unburdened by 'grander scheme' questions.

My uncle, for example, had a really important job but got paid relatively little. He was just... happy and never bothered to ask for a raise.

I've been trying to think of ways to 'prod' hackers to solve these problems that are 'bigger' in a way, but often still relatively trivial to solve.

In my experience most 'hackers' I meet fall in two camps concerning 'moral causes': 1) too shy / world-strange to even find a cause to fight for, or 2) too obsessed with and paralyzed by a kind of perfection that keeps them from diluting their views to make some practical change.

I've often wondered what my place is in this, and if I can contribute in connecting these hackers, often very skilled and capable, with something 'bigger' to fight for or work towards.

Instead, most talent around me works on silly apps and the next big startup (some restaurant finder, no doubt).

(I'm not being condescending, by the way. I feel that it is not my job to judge people for their choices. But personally I want to do something that I consider worthwhile in some 'grander scheme', and it frustrates me to see talent wasted, but only wasted from my personal point of view)

Any ideas on how to get hackers 'involved'?

Berlin also needs RoR developers. In fact, I think my place of work is looking.

How does this compare to Compund.js (http://compoundjs.com/)? I've only given it a cursory glance but it seems to be under active development, and similar in it's inspiration, no?

A site such as bitcoin-24.com allows you to create an account with no personal identification. It also allows you to send cash money (converted from bitcoin, usually) to an address.

And if you want to avoid the address issue, you can (currently) use one of the many 'exchanges' at localbitcoins.com and pick it up personally. Hell, if that's too dangerous you can probably get a minion to do it for you.

If the government ever cracks down on this kind of stuff, for example by making it harder to be a local trader at localbitcoins.com, then I have no doubt that a small industry of 'illegal traders' will appear, or methods of laundering the money.

Or that enough services, project and uses have sprung up to keep Bitcoin valuable enough to remain somewhat mainstream and not fade away.

Very well put. I think past experiences are definitely reason to be cautious, but too often it seems that analysis neglects to even consider the fact that there is no direct equivalent to Bitcoin.

It remains to be seen if Bitcoin is 'worth' its current valuation, but I think it's obvious that it has and will continue to have uses in the future.

wouldn't it be possible to link the BTC price to the going rate at MtGox, so that it always translates to around $35?

And the cycle of media attention, adoption, and more media attention.

Maybe you're right, but there are plenty of 'luminaries' where you could argue it was their stable family life that made it possible. At the very least it shouldn't be an excuse ;-).

I'm still trying to figure this one out, and should probably dive into the literature on the subject for some more enlightenment (or perhaps someone with more knowledge can share something?)

Here's the thing. I consider my huge lack of formal education one of the best things that happened to me. I was home-schooled from 8 to 18, and the last five years or so I didn't even really have a teacher. I think for a full year I'd just 'phone in' the bare minimum of work, about two hours a day in the study room in our house, and pass the required tests.

I feel like the boredom got out of my system really quickly because of this, and my natural inclination to explore and learn took over, with nobody to tell me learning was dumb or stupid or uncool.

So I read every book I could find, learned programming, and had and developed an active imagination. Two more years of high school and six years of university got a long way to beat this out of me, but it's still mostly there, and I feel it's one of the primary reasons that I feel like I'm 'doing ok'.

Is this just me specifically, or can it be applied to most children/young adults?

Interesting. I can see how architecture plays a role in this.

My experiences were mostly in large towns and cities, where the architecture was sufficiently 'open' and 'organic' to perhaps make the areas safer than the ones you mean (even despite the 70s / 80s ugly and depressing concrete-everywhere approach that needs little more than some graffiti to look like a ghetto.)

Are public spaces really that unsafe though? Or, at least, less safe than they have been in the past? Honest question.

I've read a bunch of articles (that I cannot look up right now) that argue that this decrease in safety is mostly perception, and I'm inclined to agree.

I grew up in the 'ghetto' of my hometown, and then from 8 tot 17 I lived in what was considered a dangerous, third-world country. Still, my parents mostly raised me as any kid in earlier times: be home before dark, don't go too far, but do whatever you want the rest of the time outside of school.

By and large, my experience has not been too different from other kids I know in safer environments, and I've had few 'scary' experiences involving other people. Most 'dangers' involved general kids-being-stupid things: crossing streets without looking, or climbing things at the risk of falling down on the pavement head-first, egging each other on to do something stupid, etc.

My point is, I can't really see the danger, and would like to know what you consider 'lacking'. Kidnapping is rare, sexual harassment is vastly more common in family circles, playgrounds have mostly become safer (and less fun, IMO), and violence of any kind by adults to children is (I think) relatively uncommon too. Even in dangerous areas.

Of course, I am no parent. And I admit I present no actual supporting evidence (right now) other than my own experience. But I'm not really trying to prove something, just interested in your take on this. Maybe I'm missing something important that I would be aware of with some context, or with the experience of being a parent

I've been reading up a lot on functional programming, and by know I think I get most of the principles and techniques.

What I'm mostly struggling with is how to structure my code within this paradigm. While this struggle is not limited to FP, I'd be very curious to find resources that don't just show code snippets, but explain the greater architecture of FP implementation.